At last - a blogging purpose!

Now that I've finally joined The Growing Challenge at Elements in Time, I have a purpose to using this blog. Maybe I'll be able to manage one posting a week. We'll see...

So, after work yesterday, I finally got out to the backyard to measure my garden plots. Now I can make up an actual garden plan. Also looked around a bit to see what was happening: not much. The rhubarb is still poking out of the ground a little bit - not much more than the last time I looked. Over in the herb garden, both the parsley and the chives are coming back. The sorrel looks a little 'copper-y' Because of the cold...? Need to clean out the mugwort stalks.

Behind the house the lemon balm and the mint are both coming back. The black-eyed Susans are sprouting new leaves, and the daisies are everywhere. At the side of the house, a few violets are struggling to come in. The deer have munched all the tulips down. I made up a repellent spray of egg, Tabasco sauce and Dr. Bronner's pepperming liquid soap. Have to keep re-applying because of all the rain. Don't know if it's working - no sign that they've been back.

Out in front, there's still a bunch of snow close to the house - most of the sweet woodruff is still covered. The bleeding hearts are poking through, and some of the tulips. The deer don't bother the bleeding hearts, so maybe I should plant more of them. I might just dig up all the tulips next fall and plant just daffodils and hyacinth. Deer don't seem to like them.